I finally got up to Lincoln Center Saturday to see South Pacific. We had seats in the first row of the loge next to 3 very nice women....one who was celebrating her 70th birthday. Well of course the show starts and one of them for some reason thinks it is necessary to sing along. I mean really...why does she have to do this? To show her friends that she knows the words? This happens to me at least 25% of the time. I mean. Don't they realize that it's rude?
"The price of love is loss, but still we pay; We love anyway."
You ever had the urge to sing along with a cast recording? (Or, more broadly, just the radio?) It's the same feeling as that, but with a much higher degree of obliviousness.
"This thread reads like a series of White House memos." — Mister Matt
I get it...you know I understand singing in the car...at home while I'm working around the house listening to cast recordings etc. I can honestly say that despite how young or naive I was, I never sang along with the cast during any of my first musical theater outings. I realized that people did not pay money to hear me sing...and as much as I wish it were the case...I AM NOT IN THE SHOW!
"The price of love is loss, but still we pay; We love anyway."
They're just oblivious to everyone else around them. They probably sing along at home and in the car all the time and don't realize that when they do it in public, other people can hear them. It's just another instance of people doing what they want when they want and not knowing or caring about anyone else around them. (See also, texting/talking during shows, chewing gum loudly, eating chips/smelly food, etc.)
Exactly. It's not always that they're inherently rude or stupid. It just doesn't occur to them (which is why I always advocate shushing). I saw Jersey Boys with a friend of mine who enjoys theatre but isn't a big theatre geek and doesn't go to it often. At intermission he bought a bag of Swedish Fish, and I said something like, "You're not going to crinkle that during the show, are you?" And it was like a lightbulb went off. It just hadn't occurred to him. So he took all the Swedish Fish out and put them on his shirt, to quietly eat during Act 2. :)
"This thread reads like a series of White House memos." — Mister Matt
But why the fvck do they SELL Sweedish Fish in the theater to begin with?? Sell Junior Mints or something like that in a damn box. I blame the theater for a lot of that noise you hear everytime you see a show.
I was watching one of the Next To Normal vlogs on Broadway.com. They had some of the cast talk about how they don't like it when there are people in the audience eating in the the theatre. Yet, the theatre staff walks around as if it were a baseball game and hawks off food and drink.
I do know that The Shubert theatres used to be more strict about this sort of thing. However, they are starting to become more and more laid back. That is something that annoys me. You would think that they would take into consideration how the actors feel as well and not sell food.
"If you try to shag my husband while I am still alive, I will shove the art of motorcycle maintenance up your rancid little Cu**. That's a good dear"
Tom Stoppard's Rock N Roll
When I was at the Addams Family last wed, there was a school age girl with her laptop open trying to figure out a sophisticated thesis. Good thing she sat behind me
Herbie: "Honey, Don't you know there's a depression?"
Rose: "Of Course I know, I Watch Fox News"
-(modified)Gypsy
Broadway Schedule
December 5th- Hamilton, On Your Feet
December 19th- Noises Off, Edith Piaf Concert at Town Hall
I can usually handle it at Rock of Ages. But I was there for Kerry Butler's last show the other night and it was clear some people weren't aware of that. I was just like, leave her solo to her, thanks.
"If you try to shag my husband while I am still alive, I will shove the art of motorcycle maintenance up your rancid little Cu**. That's a good dear"
Tom Stoppard's Rock N Roll
Happened to me at the final performance of Ragtime. The guy behind me just had to let everyone know he knew EVERY song in the show. Talk about annoying.
Hey Dottie!
Did your colleagues enjoy the cake even though your cat decided to sit on it? ~GuyfromGermany
I sat next to a guy at Next to Normal who had to sing AND dance from his seat along to the show. Apparently, he alternates between N2N and Hair, because he "had seen each 40 times and knew the whole show, and the whole cast on a first name basis", and is probably about one more stage door away from a restraining order. In any event, he was a complete distraction and annoyance for a great portion of the show.